Trump in France finally visits WW I cemetery, endures criticism of French president and other world leaders

By Christopher Brennan

|New York Daily News|

Nov 11, 2018 | 7:00 PM

President Trump speaks at the American Commemoration Ceremony at Suresnes Cemetery.

PARIS — Drenched in criticism for letting rain cancel his visit to an American World War I cemetery, President Trump on Sunday braved Parisian showers to attend another solemn ceremony honoring veterans of what was called the Great War.

His visit to the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial in suburban Paris capped a diplomatically difficult visit to France, during which Trump endured not-so-subtle criticism from French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders.

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"We are gathered together at this hallowed resting place to pay tribute to the brave Americans who gave their last breath in that mighty struggle," Trump said at the U.S. cemetery. More than 1,500 Americans who died in what Trump called a “horrible, horrible” war are buried there.

Before he spoke, the President stood alone amid the cemetery’s white crosses, protecting himself against the drizzle with a black umbrella.

"It is our duty to preserve the civilization they defended and to protect the peace they so nobly gave their lives to secure one century ago," he said.

President Donald Trump stands in front of headstones during a World War commemoration Sunday at Suresnes American Cemetery near Paris. Trump attended centennial commemorations in Paris this weekend to mark the armistice that ended World War I. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP)

At one point, he looked at a group of aged veterans of World War II who watched the event from a covered space. “You look so comfortable up there, under shelter, as we’re getting drenched,” he said.

For reasons not fully clear — but apparently related to inclement weather — Trump on Saturday canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, about 55 miles east of Paris. Trump drew wide criticism for skipping the ceremony, at the site of one of the greatest battles ever fought by Marines.

White House officials said the weather was too poor for Trump to travel to the cemetery by helicopter. In response to critics who said Trump could have made the trip by car, the White House issued a statement Sunday night saying Trump did not want to disrupt traffic around Paris.

Earlier Sunday, Macron criticized Trump directly — but not by name — before other world leaders gathered at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris for a joint commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the World War I armistice.

U.S President Donald Trump, second left, watches French President Emmanuel Macron putting his hand on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's knee during ceremonies at the Arc de Triomphe Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018 in Paris. (Francois Mori / AP)

Trump — who calls himself a “nationalist” — sat mostly stone-faced with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others as Macron spoke.

"Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” Macron said.

“In saying, ‘Our interests first, whatever happens to the others,’ you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be great and that which is most important: Its moral values.”

At the event, Trump was isolated from other world leaders not only ideologically, but physically. He arrived at the Arc de Triomphe event separately from them and skipped a symbolic walk with the group at the moment when fighting in the war ended 100 years ago.

The White House said “security protocols" caused Trump to skip the walk.

At one point Sunday morning a topless feminist activist from the group Femen made it close to Trump’s motorcade on the Champs-Élysées. The protester sported the words “fake peacemaker” across her torso.

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She was one of many protesters who criticized Trump’s attendance of an event about peace.

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Despite the rain, roughly 1,500 people attended a rally against Trump at a Paris plaza several miles away, according to police. They rallied under a banner that said “Trump=War” and slammed policies such as U.S. help for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Sophie Haas, a 28-year-old activist from Upper Manhattan who now lives in France, stood by the famous “Baby Trump” balloon that has been used at several anti-Trump protests, including during his visit to London last summer.

“Our slogan ‘Trump means war’ means physical wars, physical demonstrations of force, but also the wars that Trump has basically declared on people of color, on women and other marginalized groups in the U.S.,” said Haas.

Trump later skipped Macron’s Global Peace Forum, which the French president organized as part of his nation’s commemoration of the war.

German Chancellor Merkel — who recently announced she will not seek reelection — said in her speech that World War I had "made clear what disastrous consequences a lack of compromise in politics and diplomacy can have."

Among those present for Merkel’s speech were Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Trump left Paris on Air Force one shortly before the forum began.